Autism Spectrum Disorder ( Asd ) - 1441 Words

Introduction Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a hereditary neurodevelopmental disorder. Like many other psychological disorders, it is commonly misunderstood in popular culture. Many allude to it casually, often equating it with crippling social awkwardness and disability when it is in fact a spectrum disorder with many degrees of severity. It is somewhat of an enigma within the scientific community as well; there are many things we do not know about ASD and there is ongoing research to learn more about the disorder. The purpose of this paper is to explain what is currently known about ASD: general facts, symptoms, prognosis, treatment, and demographics. A Description of Autism Autism is a highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorder. It†¦show more content†¦Structural and functional brain imaging reveals that ASD affects multiple parts of the brain (Amaral, Geschwind, Dawson, 2011), likely affecting the cerebellum, frontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala (Santangelo Tsatsanis, 2005). Many things are unknown about autism and scientists are searching for the causes of autism, the source of savant skills in those with autism, the best ways to diagnose ASD, the best ways to treat ASD, and more (Amaral, Geschwind, Dawson, 2011). Symptoms of ASD Symptoms of ASD are divided into three categories: problems with social interaction, problems with speech and communication, and problems with behavior (Amaral, Geschwind, Dawson, 2011). In general, symptoms of autism decline as a person ages (Social, 2013). Problems with social interaction are mainly connected to difficulty establishing close relationships with others (Rutter, 1978). Those with ASD may exhibit disinterest in reciprocating communication or in interacting with others at all, for example not responding to another person’s greeting (Fernell, Eriksson, Gillberg, 2013). They may also act apathetically, not caring if another person such as a parent is feeling sad or angry (Amaral, Geschwind, Dawson, 2011). Examples of problems with speech and communication include difficulty with pronunciation, pronoun reversal, where the speaker uses incorrect pronouns in a phrase, and echolalia, the uncontrollable